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Monday business: A new place for kids By Jennifer Nitson Ashland Daily Tidings After three years of false starts and dashed hopes, Kid's House Preschool finally found a place to land. The Kid's House site at 231 Gresham St. served as a place where Ashland youngsters could play, create, learn, and enjoy snack-time for over a quarter of a century. When the Kid's House staff and board of directors found out the Gresham Street property had been put up for sale in the fall of 2000, the long, frustrating process of finding a new site worthy of the Kid's House legacy began. Both parents and "Kid's House Kids" express a sense of loyalty and affinity for this unique day care where they feel children are offered an experience found nowhere else. "I think it's wonderful because it's a place that kids could be exactly who they are," said Leslie Levy, whose two children attended Kid's House. "It's one of the last places where kids can get really creative and dirty and really have fun." A five-year-old summed it up in this way: "We have only two rules, don't hit anybody and you have to keep your underwear on." As Kid's House director Barbara Hobbs recounted the story of the long and frustrating process of finding a suitable site, the months and days blur in her mind. "It was an emotional rollercoaster," Hobbs said. When she took over for longtime director Larkin Safady in September of 2001, a site in the Railroad District looked promising. Plans to team up with the Ashland Community Land Trust to build a day care facility with housing on the second floor fell through when grant money was withheld due to proximity of the property to the railroad. Another location to be developed in conjunction with the Ashland Community Land Trust looked so probable that a map of the site was displayed at Kid's House and building plans were drawn up. Unfortunately, the needed grant money could not be acquired in time. After considering other sites, Kid's House families and staff again got their hopes up on a city owned property on North Main. Again money was a problem. The house on the site was in need of so much repair that it just wasn't economically feasible. "We would find a place and it would be a huge process," Hobbs recalled. "A lot of energy, a lot of thought, a lot of plans and tons of legwork. It's not that we didn't like where we were, but it was sad we were going to have to start all over again." In the meantime, Kid's House parents Jana Carole and Keith Swink dug deep into their pockets and bought the house on Gresham Street. The new owners don't necessarily want to reveal the selling price of the property, but the previous owner, Joanne Condas, who bought the property in 1981, realized a 281 percent return on her investment. "We had a strong emotional connection to Kid's House," Carole said. "I feel like our kids really rooted to the community and developed a strong sense of community through being there. It seemed like the right thing to do." In March property owner and longtime Ashland resident Sally Crumme called Hobbs to offer up what was previously the site of a Waldorf school and the Chautauqua Garden School daycare on B Street. "I was flabbergasted," Hobbs said. "I was so shocked and excited. I feel like this thing had been dropped in our lap like 'Here you go.'" "It had been a preschool for a long time and I didn't want to change it back," Crumme said. "It is a very nice place for a preschool." Crumme's daughter taught at Kid's House 20 years ago, and her granddaughter, who is now 27, attended the preschool. "I think that we really needed a nice place for people who work to put their children," Crumme said. "A nice place with plenty of room is not easy to find." That point is not lost on Kid's House staff, directors, and parents. "I really have great respect for anybody who saw that process through," Carole said. "They all refer to it as a miracle, and it really does feel like that." "I think it's just absolutely crucial that Kid's House stay alive in this community," Levy said. "I think Ashland's gotten to the point where it's hard to keep small schools alive." Hobbs, Kid's House teachers, and parents worked together to renovate the new digs and ready the preschool for the children. A $10,000 grant from the Carpenter Foundation and generous private donations from parents and friends of Kid's House allowed them to install new floors and shelves, lay down some fresh coats of paint, buy new furniture and fix up the playground. The kids have moved right in and seem entirely comfortable in their new home. "It's the people and the spirit," Carole said. "It moves with you." 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